Round Ligament Pain During Pregnancy - 4 Symptoms & 4 Causes You Should Be Aware Of

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Pregnancy is a time of super care and changes. While you are pregnant, it is quite normal to have an ache in various parts of your body. A very common area where you may have an ache is in your lower belly.

This pain is known as round ligament pain, which is seen in the second trimester of pregnancy. If you experience this situation, you may experience severe pain in the hip area or the abdomen.

What Is Round Ligament Pain?

During pregnancy, your uterus area starts expending along with the growth of your baby. This is when you will start experiencing the growing pains and this is known as round ligament.

This pain can be on one side or sometimes both the sides, but most commonly on the right side of your pelvis.

As your body goes through many changes during pregnancy, this round ligament pain is also considered normal.

[ Read: Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy ]

Causes Of Round Ligament Pain:

Round ligament pain is a common occurrence in pregnancy, but knowing the cause

s of this pain is very important. Here are a few causes of this pain:

There is a round ligament in your body to support and surround the uterus. As your baby grows, the uterus stretches and becomes thick in order to support your baby. These changes in the size of the ligament cause pain.

Too much stress on your body while walking or doing any kind of exercises also causes ligament pain.

When changes happen to the size and shape of the ligament, there is a pull to the nearby nerves. This also causes ligament pain.

You can experience ligament pain, even when you roll in your sleep.

[ Read: Walking During Pregnancy ]

Symptoms Of Round Ligament Pain:

Here are few round ligament pain symptoms:

The abdominal area grows abnormally.

You will experience severe pain in the cyst area or the ovaries. The cyst may rupture and cause abdominal pain.

A sudden lower abdominal pain, which is usually on the right side of the pelvis area. In some cases it may extend up to the groin also.

When you are doing any exercises or walking too much, you will experience a shooting pain in the abdomen.

When To Get Medical Assistance?

This round ligament pain during pregnancy is quite normal, but there are some situations where you will need medical assistance:

Generally in normal cases the pain persists only for a few seconds and will disappear if you are taking proper rest. But if the pain is persisting for a longer time (more than a few minutes) or is increasing and becoming severe, you should consult a doctor immediately.

You should not hesitate to seek the doctor or midwife if the pain is accompanied by bleeding, fever, vomiting, nausea, chills, cramping, burning sensation or pain when you urinate, etc.

If you are facing this problem regularly, even if the pain is persisting just for a few seconds, it is good to inform the doctor to get reassurance that everything is fine.

[ Read: Hot Water Bath During Pregnancy ]

How To Ease The Round Ligament Pain?

Taking proper care and following all the precautions given by your doctor will help avoid pregnancy round ligament pain to some extent and will help you get relief.

One of the best ways to get relief from this round ligament pain is to rest and sit down. Take rest immediately and try to change the position slowly, making room for the ligament to stretch properly.

A warm water bath can also help you reduce the ligament pain to some extent.

To reduce the pull on the ligament, you can flex your hips and bend when you are going to cough, sneeze or laugh.

One of the best exercises to alleviate round ligament pain is to keep both your knees and hands on the floor and lower your head towards the floor and keep your bottom in the air. This exercise helps a lot.

You can consult the doctor for more exercises and other tips that will help you reduce the round ligament pain.

Round ligament pain can be severe, but this is very common in all expecting moms. As long as the pain is occasional and you are not facing any other problem along with abdominal pain you don’t have to worry.

Talk to the health expert if you are still worried or the pain is persisting for a longer time. Do not neglect.